A consistent problem with assembling gear trains is the proper alignment and indexing of the gear components. If the gears are not properly aligned, backlash can result, which can produce excessive wear and failure of the gears. The assembly time and difficulty associated with ensuring proper gear alignment is well known to those skilled in the art.
Certain types of planetary gear drives are particularly problematic. With these drives, the planet gears are mounted to a carrier (e.g., via needle bearings) and are free to rotate. The carrier is a generally closed-ended housing that is subsequently bolted to the transmission casing, and the planet gears are not visible during this assembly step. For this reason, this type of planetary gear carrier is often referred to as a “blind carrier.” However, all of the planet gears must be in an exact location in order to properly engage the sun gear and ring gear. Visual aids to ensure this exact alignment cannot be used with the blind carrier because of the depth of the planet gears within the carrier. The conventional processes for assembly of the planetary gear carrier to the transmission (or other drive) are tedious, difficult, and time consuming.
An improved method and associated tool for reducing the complexity and time associated with assembly of a planetary gear drive would be a welcome advancement in the industry.